Monday, September 24, 2012

Recently, I was talking to a friend who told me about
her plans to attend law school soon. Of COURSE, I suggested that she apply
to USC here in Los Angeles. To paraphrase her response, she said, “I know it
sounds bad, but I want to stay in DC, close to my boyfriend.” Even after I
assured her that there was nothing wrong with that, she continued to explain
her decision, as if anticipating pushback. People, particularly women, are
often told from the time they can pick up a Ken Barbie to:

It sounds good. And it’s relatively true; for most people,
our strongest friendships tend to be more static than our romantic
relationships, particularly when we’re younger and unmarried. But lately, I’ve come to question these alleged nuggets of “wisdom.”
And here’s why:

1.As we get older, it
becomes more practical to consider our ambitions and long-term goals comprehensively versus in a linear
fashion.This means that instead of tossing out a relationship for a promotion overseas,
or choosing your long time homegirl over your potential life partner, consider how each decision fits into your overall plan for your life.

Let’s consider Rachel and Walter, a hypothetical case study.
Rachel and Walter have been seriously dating for 2 years. Rachel is 28 and Walter
is 32 and while they
certainly agree that they eventually want to have a family and settle down,
they haven’t made a formal commitment to each other just yet. Rachel is offered
a promotion within her company that would require her to move across the country.
It isn’t necessarily a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and there will be probably be other promotion
opportunities in the area, but it is a great one and it’s significantly closer
to her family. Rachel and Walter both have had negative experiences with
long-distance relationships and aren't interested in going down that road. I believe the
decision to take a new career with relocation should be based on a variety of
things including the proximity to her family, the impact of the salary/new role in her
quality of life. Furthermore, I would argue that Rachel should also consider her desire to have a family. She should consider if she wants to continue developing a
relationship with Walter that has promise to lead to the family they both want. It’s a fair consideration and she shouldn’t be judged harshly for including her
plans with him in her decision.

Interestingly enough, a hard lesson many Type A’s and voracious
planners grudgingly learn is: our lives don’t proceed steadily along in a straight
line, like moving walkways in an airport. Sure, there are outliers. Beyoncé was
able to achieve immense success, then love, and then the adorable Blue Ivy.
Michelle Obama even did what many of us aspire to do; she completed her
extensive education, landed a great job, and then found love as well, culminating with a not too shabby title as
First Lady of the United States. While Beyoncé and Michelle are certainly admirable,
for most people, life doesn’t occur in a Point A, then B, then C fashion. Many
of us complete our education in parts, in between jobs and career changes, and
many of us find love all throughout the process; the beginning, the middle, or the end. There’s nothing wrong with that.
Instead of trying to create a divine order in which you focus primarily on one
goal at a time, consider how each of the pieces can fit together. My friend
sheepishly crossed schools in California off her list so she could be close to
the man who makes her smile in Washington, DC. Is Georgetown such a bad alternative to USC? I don’t think so.

2. When you are in a
committed relationship with a sane person who legitimately has your best
interest at heart, that person will only ask you to choose if he or she has good
reason. One of my good friends used to lament that whenever her boyfriend
was with one of his close female friends, he tended to drink more, smoke weed,
and stay out later. When he’d stumble home, it wasn’t his homegirl that had to
deal with his sour breath, the illegal army green flakes on his jacket, and the
lingering hangover; it was his girlfriend. When she told him that she’d had enough and that he’d need to regulate his behavior around said homegirl or just not
hang with her at all, her boyfriend blew up at her for making her “choose.” I
won’t tell you what happened in the end, but to me, it seems as though that was good reason.

The caveat is that of course, there are people out there who
are jealous, suspicious, and irrational. They don’t like you spending time with
your friends; they don’t like that something or someone
else is making you happy. These zany folks don’t represent everyone and should
be avoided anyway. Your true friends know that your household is peaceful when
you alternate the Thursday night pick-up basketball games with date night every
other week. They understand.

In conclusion, I’m not suggesting that a relationship should
take precedence over every other consideration in your life. I do however,
think it is an important consideration and that there is absolutely nothing
wrong in putting it on equal bearing, and in many cases, higher bearing than
other considerations. In the end, it’s YOUR life. You decide what matters to
you most, and if being close to your girlfriend is more important than attending
a school miles away, then act on that! It's perfectly ok.

**

Thoughts? Have you ever felt compelled to choose between a
career or a significant other? Have your friends ever accused you of unfairly
choosing the significant other over them? Do you think these old adages have
more value than I’m giving them credit for? Let me know!